these guests we join this loving couple. oh dear... geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

campbell's has 24 new soups that will make it drop over, and over again. ♪ from jammin' jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque. see what's new from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. good morning. i'm chris jansing. the president right now headed to huddle with democratic senators. he'll be talking strategy in annapolis, maryland, and there is a lot to talk about, besides

passing gun control legislation and immigration reform, "the wall street journal" is reporting the president plans to lay out a renewed effort to combat climate change in. the short term he's trying to avoid the sequester, of course. the president talked about those harsh out matic cuts yesterday. they're sked yulted to take effect march 1. without a long-term solution in place, he asked congress for a short-term fix. >> i believe that they should at least pass a smaller package of spending cuts and tax reforms that would delay the economically damaging effects of the sequester for a few more months until congress finds a way to replace these cuts with a smarter solution. >> immediately, republicans said no. politico's headline reads, it's already d.o.a. on the hill. republicans reject this right

away because they see tax reforms as a tax increase. here's what kelly ayacht said this morning. >> his first response to everything is new taxes. he got $600 billion in new revenue, where were the spending cuts? now again he wants to raise taxes. i think it's time for us to cut spending. >> and those comments followed pat toomey, who said sorry, president obama, no more tax increases. mitch mcconnell said the government will not support more tax hikes in place of the meaningful spending reductions. so what's behind the president talking about this yesterday? >> it's no surprise. of course they're going to say it's d.o.a. they always say it's d.o.a. >> but is it d.o.a.? >> i'm not sure it is. i do think there is renewed pressure on republicans to get renewed spending cuts in this round.

you see indications that house republicans especially are saying that they will swallow that sequester if that's what it takes to get actual spending cuts out of this president. >> the president didn't get specific, which is one of the criticisms yesterday. and house democrats want to replace the sequester by cutting farm subsidies. republican don't like that idea. so i guess what are the chances that the sequester, the cuts, that all this snaps. >> the sequester is looking kind of likely right now, just given that republicans have immediately rejected president obama's short-term deal, as you just heard, politico called it doa. they do seem prepared even though they don't like the defense cuts, to possibly let this measure go through. they also are girding for another big battle over potentially a debt ceiling extension months down the road,

and they're really thinking about, you know, a fight over the sequester or not, using this sort of yearlong view and thinking about the bats down the road and not using all their leverage right now. >> we got some projections yesterday on the deficit, projected to be $845 billion, that would be under a trillion for the first time since 2008. does this play into all of this discussion at all? >> i mean, it's fairly consistent with the president's proposal, which is to say he doesn't want to cut spending too much right now. he wants to do some long-term spending reduction on the de deficit. republicans say don't trust him. i don't think republicans will be swayed by the cbo report. they have what they see as a mandate from voters, cut spending. >> let me bring in congressman john yarmuth. what would you like to see? >> i think some of the spending

you mentioned could be very youthful. some of the farm subsidies that are unjustified. i'd like to consider a securities transaction pack, the so called wall street packs that can raise tens of billions of dollars. and we can do some cutting, but in that cbo report that you mentioned, it also said that the kind of austerity program which the sequester would represent would be damaging to the recovery, would hurt gdp, and, of course, that's in line with what most economists believe. i think we've got to be very careful when we just say we've got a cut, without regard to the impact of those cuts, both on the economy and on some very important programs. >> you know what the republicans' answer to that is. they say one of the concerns is as we look ahead, and to increase needs for medicare and medicaid. social security, if that deficit reduction is going to stop, it's going to go if the other direction, so the time to cut is now. >> well, i think we can plan to cut, but we saw what happened in

the last quarter with reductions in defense spending bringing in a negative gdp for january. if we actually have the kind of cuts that are projected in the sequester, that would do very serious damage to the economy in the short term. so we ought to talk about what we need to do, but right now the economy is much too fragile to impose another $85 billion in cuts. >> i'm sure you heard as we were just talking with kelly ayotte about what they had to say about all this. i'm wondering do you think they'd rather see the sequester kick in than raise taxes? how entrenched is this on the republican side? >> i think with many of them, it is pretty much entrenched. and again, it's done without regard to the impact of the sequester. if you consider -- and i don't want to go into the weeds on this, but this would have an incredibly negative impact on agencies like the fbi, like food inspectors, air traffic

controllers. those agencies that have heavy personnel costs. we see a very severe reduction in the services that we all come to rely on for our protection if these sequester cuts were allowed to occur. so i think you've got to be very careful when you say we need to cut, cut, cut, cut, cut. because these things have very serious implications for the american people. >> let me switch gears. you're part of that bipartisan group in the house working on immigration reform. how close are you guys to a bill? >> well, i think a lot of us have come to an agreement on both sides on the principles of the bill. i think we're still far, far away on the question of what we do with the 11 million or so immigrants who are here without documentation, here illegally. that's going to be a very tough sticking point. and i think -- >> we did hear yesterday there are a number of republicans in the house judiciary committee who want to do something about immigration but they've said no paths to citizenship. can i just play for you really

quickly what your republican colleague raul labrador had to say. >> i talked to thousands and thousands of people who were here illegally. what they want is they want to come out of the shadows. they want to be able to be legal. they want to be able to work. they want to be able to travel. they want to be able to feel like they're being treated with dignity. not very many people told me i want to be a citizen, i have to be a citizen. >> so for you, does a pathway to citizenship have to be part of this? >> well, i think it does, and the reason is that we want people here who want to be citizens. while i think raul is absolutely right, there are some for whom the actual citizenship issue is not important, for many many more it is. their children are citizens. they want to have the same rights as their families. so the burdens that are set up in kind of the proposals that are being floated -- people don't get to citizenship for 15 to 20 years. this is not some kind of easy free pass that is being

proposed. so while i accept the fact that what most of the illegal immigrants want is the ability to live and work here and come out of the shadows, i think the ultimate goal of citizenship is still something that's important to provide for. >> congressman john yarmuth, it is always great to have you. thanks so much. >> thank you, chris. >> i want to play with julian castro had to say, the mayor of san antonio, making a case for the pathway to citizenship. >> if we don't go down that route, i'm convinced that we're more likely to find ourselves here again in ten years, 15 years, 20 years. so if you ask me would that be better than zero, yeah, i wouldn't necessarily agree with that. but is that sufficient? does that actually address the issues that we have in front of us? no. >> so andy, where are we with this? is it all or nothing? >> the democrats want it to be all or nothing. they say we cannot take a piecemeal approach to this. we can't pass a bill for highly

skilled immigrants. we can't pass a bill for farm workers, the separate small bills. we need to tackle this thing fully, comprehensive, addressing all the issues at once. democrats fear that if they go the piecemeal route, the republicans will back away when the really tough decisions come along. the house republicans, however, with the exception of the leadership, eric cantor john boehner, the house republicans and the conservatives, they don't want to have a pathway to citizenship for the more than ten million. illegal immigrants, they think that's an extremist idea. so there's a very big gap between the two sides on just what the shape of this legislation should look like. >> we just got a new poll. literally as i was coming out to this set, so maybe 15 minutes ago, on barack obama's approval rating on immigration. and it has been moving in the positive direction. it's now 49 to 44%. he was under water with just 38% approval in july. in addition to that, i'm wondering, the republicans look

at the number, 71%, what the president got of the latino vote and that has been in many ways spurring this conversation. but do they seem to really want a pathway to citizenship, or is it they want to do something, so in the end they can sort of say well here's what we did. >> it's not totally clear who the audience for these proposals is. the problem for the gop is their base, their core voters, the people who come most reliably for them, are really opposed to anything that seems like amnesty, smells like amnesty, looks like amnesty. so they have to reconcile with these proposals in part to attract new voters to their roles. it's kind of like an uncomfortable thing for them. you also have influence from the business community, from business lobbies and part of the reason for this skill workers thing, if you just pass that, it relieves some of the pressure that they are feeling from their business backers to do something. because what the business community really wants is

regularity for those high-tech workers, a supply of those workers. >> can you kind of take the pulse of what's going on in capitol hill right now? is this part of the regular negotiating process, what we're seeing right now? or are we looking at something that might be a little more difficult and we might not end up with anything? >> this is how all these big negotiations around a peaiece o legislation, something big works. the democrats stake out their side. the republicans stake out the opposite side and that's when the work begins and we try to bring people together. republicans and democrats. the real question, just as it was with the fiscal cliff, just as it was, the question is can the republican leadership get the more conservative members of their caucus onboard. these are the clips that you just showed clips of. the folks who call a pathway to citizenship extremist. you know, the house leadership understands that they need to bring latino voters into their

block. they need to bring latino voters into their party in bigger numbers, but can they get the folks in their party on board. i think that's where the action is going to be in the next few months around this big legislative priority of the president's and of the congress. >> andy kroll, nicolas, thanks to both of you. the pentagon will soon provide some benefits to military partners of don't ask don't tell. leon panetta hasn't finalized which would be provided. a formal announcement is expected in the next several days. and lunesta®(eszopiclone) can help you get there. like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. lunesta should not be taken together with alcohol.

abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations, or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions such as tongue or throat swelling occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness, and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then find out how to get lunesta for as low as fifteen dollars at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta. woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year.

for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. when you lost the thing you can't believe you lost.. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember you can expect some help. but what you might not expect, is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership.

no matter how hard we try, sometimes catching a cold spreading across the office is

inevitable during the winner month, but for thousands of americans, getting sick presents a major financial problem. the prospect of staying home to get better without pay is a major hardship. sarah jane glen joins me now. good morning. >> good morning. >> you wrote a piece in "the atlantic" that it's been 20 years since the family and medical leave act was signed by president clinton and you argue new steps need to be take on the match kind of a work-life world we live in now. make your argument. >> well, the family and medical leave act was a really important piece of legislation, because it was the first federal law that was explicitly aimed at helping families manage their work responsibilities with their responsibles to their partners and their children. but unfortunately we haven't taken any steps since then, so the fmla will let a worker take unpaid time off where their job is protect sod they can't be fired, but it doesn't offer any wage replacement. if someone has sick, when they

have a new child, if they are married to a service member, they can take time off, but they're losing wages. so for most families today, they just can't afford to do that, unfortunately. >> i heard senator harkin is going to reintroduce the healthy families act this session. i'm quoting him here. the united states is the only developed nation that does not guarantee paid sick days to its workers and our economy and productivity suffer as a result. contrary to popular belief, not absenteeism, but presenteeism is the greatest cause of lost productivity due to illness. what are the chances of federal legislation? how important could this be? >> i think federal legislation is tremendously important. we're talking about 40 million workers who don't have access to a single paid sick day. so that means 40 million workers across the nation, if they get the flu or their child gets sick, they're either going to lose wages or potentially lose their job.

so this means you have people coming in who are sick, they're infecting their co-workers and infecting their customers. we're very hopeful that there will be bipartisan support for this. i mean, this is a common sense issue. paid sick days are good for families, good for businesses and they're good for the economy, so we're really hopeful that we'll be able to see some movement with this legislation. >> you do have some push against by special interest groups. how tough is this fight going to be realistically? >> well, i think if you really look at the facts, we have a lot of evidence that is good for business. replacing an employee is incredibly expensive. it costs about 20% of a worker's salary to replace them. so paid sick days are cost-effective for businesses because it means that you're retaining a work force and retaining a happier, heldier, more productive work force. >> thanks so much for coming on the program. we learned that president obama is planning his visit to israel this spring. it will be his first trip there since becoming president. the decision raises the prospect

of a new u.s. push to restart the middle east peace prospect. the president has had a somewhat testy relationship with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the president will also visit the west bank and jordan as well to continue his work with the palestinian authority and jordianian officials. [ male announcer ] how about v8 v-fusion. a full serving of vegetables, a full serving of fruit. but what you taste is the fruit. so even you... could've had a v8.

or treat gas with these after you get it. now that's like sunblock before or sun burn cream later. oh, somebody out there's saying, now i get it! take beano before and there'll be no gas.

i'm maria, and i have diabetic nerve pain. i felt like my feet were going to sleep. it was like pins and needles sticking in your toes and in your feet. it progressed from there to burning like i was walking on hot coals. at that point, i knew i had to do something. when i went to see my doctor, she chose lyrica. once i started taking the lyrica, the pain started subsiding. [ female announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eye sight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who've had a drug or alcohol problem

may be more likely to misuse lyrica. having less pain... it's a wonderful feeling. [ female announcer ] ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. to hear more patient stories, visit lyrica.com. to politics now where we've learned that next week the president will recognize the teachers and administrators who died in the newtown massacre. he'll present their families with presidential citizen medals for protecting the children in their care. this week tuz white house photo of the day, tweeted out yesterday, president obama meeting with his speech writers. fitting because jon favreau is leaving. rumor has it he may be trying his hand at the movie business.

rahm emanuel showed up for jury duty yesterday. he got dismissed but even as mayor of chicago, he has to do his civic duty. it looks like a former mitt romney staffer will be the first to throw his hat in the ring for massachusetts senate. dan winslow, a state representative, says he's 99% in. a day after eating a doughnut with david letterman, new jersey governor chris christie addressed his weight at a news conference. >> so far, up to 50 years old, i've been remarkably healthy. and my doctor continues to warn me that my luck is going to run out relatively soon. so believe me, it's something i'm very conscious of. so be assured there is a plan. whether it will be successful or not, you all will be able to notice. but there is a plan. >> and is fictional president jed bartlett like the real president? chris matthews asks the actor who played his communication

department on "the west wing." >> see many martin sheens in your business? >> in your business? >> do you find these romantic figures who really try to do the right thing and they wrestle with it, so they can get done with it? >> i believe this president is of that ilk, i really do. i think that he wants to do the right thing. >> and if you read only one thing this morning, i was completely mesmerized and heartbroken by the well written story in "the washington post" sports pages about a talented young basketball player and what happened to his dream of playing in the big leagues. it's an important story on so many levels and i highly recommend it. it's up on our facebook page. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours.

♪

and the next great idea could be yours. why take exercise so seriously,when it can be fun? push-ups or sprints? what's wrong with fetch? or chase? let's do this larry! ooh, i got it, i got it! (narrator) the calorie-smart nutrition in beneful healthy weight... includes grains and real chicken, because a healthy dog is a playful dog. beneful healthy weight. find us on facebook to help put more play in your day. on the heels of criticism, president obama plans to nominate a woman to head the interior department. we just learned this morning she's the ceo of the outdoor equipment giant rei. her name is sally jewel. here she is two years ago at an

east rim event with the president. >> the america's great outdoor initiative has a really important initiative to build a vision for the future. it is my great honor and president to introduce the president of the united states, barack obama. >> i want to thank sally for the terrific introduction. i asked her if she brought me any gear. she said that the secret service wouldn't let her. >> jill started her career, though, at mobile oil. here's why that's important. the on shore and offshore acreage managed by interior account for 30% of u.s. natural gas output, 30% of the country's oil production, and up to 40% of u.s. coal production. let me bring in political strategist and co-founder of impact d.c. angela rye, and we're also joined by republican strategist david winston. good morning. >> good morning. >> let's start with the optics of this, angela. how important was it for the president to name another woman?

>> i think extremely important, chris. it's very important that this cabinet in particular reflects the diversity of america. when you look at what the mission is of the department of interior, the fact that native peoples are a portion of their mission, it's important not only a woman, but a woman from washington state is in this role. >> she is a washington woman. the controversies -- the biggest controversy to deal with, david, is land management related to oil and gas rights. i mean, generally, we're going to make a broad statement here, republicans tend to be oil industry promotes, environmental activists tend to be democrats. is this someone who both sides might feel understands their position? >> i think that opportunity certainly is there, but obviously it's going to depend in terms of what he initial decisions are. at this point, one of the things that's clearly occurring and

keeping this economy afloat has been the expansion of natural gas development. that's been critical in terms of keeping this economy treading water. i think what's going to be interesting to see is what her decisions are in terms of dealing with land management. you see that about 2/3 of the country supports expanded use in terms of land and natural gas exploration. obviously with concerns in terms of conservation and the environment. but ultimately people are looking at what is her role going to be in terms of helping the economy. >> we are looking at record-high gas prices for this time of year. and at a time when the debate continues to be hot over drilling. there were some duelling estimates in the past few days of potential revenue, if oil and gas leasing on federal lands got expanded. and the argument by republicans is this could mean billions in new tax revenues, significant job creation. how big could the fight be given that sally jewel, that sally jewel could be in the middle of? >> well, i think it could be huge, but the most important

thing is having a partner who understands both sides of the issue. she certainly is well-positioned, given her background on both aspects, whether it's the oil industry or this conservationist industry with rei being a billion-dollar company that is owned by a co-op of -- a million members. so i think that when you look at her ability to understand buy-in, by being managed by so many different players, she certainly will be well-positioned to not only know both sides, to negotiate the nuances of both sides, and i think that that's a really important factor, especially when you consider what's happening on capitol hill, where we are having a really tough time seeing any negotiations happening, because people just don't understand. >> a couple other things about her, david, she is a former banking executive, although she's an engineer by training. angela mentioned she's a westerner and most interior secretaries tend to be from the west because so much of the land is out there. rei, as a company under her, has

focused a lot on sustainability. this position does need senate confirmation. do you think there will be a night. >> i don't think that's clear yet. we need to see what her focus is going to be. it's clearly a position that republicans are concerned about as expressed earlier. so i mean, i think at this point, let's see how this conversation and this discussion develops. but again, republicans, as you stated up front, republicans are concerned in terms of this position, in terms of what it means, in terms of energy resources for the country. >> thanks both of you. some breaking news to tell you about when it comes to the boy scouts who have been reconsidering a decades long ban on scouts as leaders as well as members. nbc's pete williams, our justice correspondent, joins me. what do you know, pete? >> well, chris, there will be no decision today. it had been expected that the boy scouts' board of directors' meeting in texas today would vote on this issue.

that's what the scouts had said last week. but now they've put this off until at least may. and it's also going to be decided not simply by the boy scouts' board, but by the larger 1,400 voting members of the boy scouts' national council. so that could change very significantly what happens here. the boy scouts say that the controversy since this came to light a week ago has produced what i'm reading now from a statement they just put out. an outpouring of feedback from the american republic, showing how deeply people care about scouting, and then they say due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership poll circumstance and therefore in order to further engage representatives of scouting's membership and listen to their concerns, this will be put off until the national council meets in may of 2013.

now, you may recall that what the boy scouts were considering here was a change in their policy that would lift the national ban on permitting troops to allow in gay scouts or scout leaders, and leave it up to local organizations to decide that for themselves so that some could permit gay members and scouts and some would not. but now even that position is being put on hold. so, you know, there's been an outpouring of views on both sides, i think it's fair to say. a lot of support from people who thought this was the right move, but a great deal of pushback as well from people who thought this was the wrong move, including churches, which are an important part of scouting's sponsorship. local scouting units well over half of them, maybe as many as 70%, are sponsored by churches. they themselves have not been unanimous on this, but clearly there's been a huge pushback, and so the scouts are putting this off until a vote of their national council in may of this

year, chris. >> pete williams, thank you for that update. >> you bet. also making news this morning, american skier lindsey vonn will head back home to colorado for surgery after the frightening crash at the world championships in austria. the olympic gold medalist tore two ligaments in her right knee and broke a bone in her lower leg. it's going to be a tough rehab, but she does hope to compete one year from now in the 2014 olympics in russia. these are the first images we've seen from inside the property where that young boy was rescued from an underground bunker in alabama. officials say the man who held him rigged the bunker with explosives, described as crude pop guns. when officials saw the man holding a gun, they threw a stun grenade inside and stormed the bunker. today ethan turns 6 years old. texas police have released a chilling 911 call that was made when an iraq war vet allegedly shot and killed former navy seal sniper and best-selling author

chris kyle. the voice you hear is the suspect's sister. yes march my brother just came by here and told me that he's committed a murder. >> okay, hold on. >> i'm terrified for my life. because i don't know if he's going to come back here. >> the suspect is accused of killing kyle and a friend at a gun range on saturday. kyle had reportedly taken routh to the range to help him work through his post traumatic stress disorder. he's now being held on $3 million bond and is on suicide watch. a tsunami hit the solomon islands this morning following a magnitude 8.0 earthquake in the region. officials say five foot high waves almost wiped out two communities on the island of santa cruz, killing at least five people. the biracial daughter of the late senator strom thurmond has died at the age of 87. she kept her parentage a secret for more than 70 years to avoid damaging her segregationist

father's political career. she did not come forward until after her father's death at the age of 100 in 2003. change is coming. saturday mail delivery is about to come to an end, as the postal service is fighting for its survival. mandy drury is here with what's moving your money. good morning, mandy. >> good morning to you, chris. you're absolutely right. from august, no mail on saturday. but packages will continue six days a week, and it's also aimed at saving about $2 billion annually. so all in all, wouldn't you say a good thing. in australia, we've never had saturday mail and it hasn't hurt us. anyway, why is package delivery going to continue? well, it has increased by 14% since 2010, chris. the delivery of letters and other mail, as you can imagine, has been declining with the increasing use of e-mail. also post offices now open on saturdays will remain open on saturdays. and the postmaster general thinks that most americans are going to take this new schedule in stride and be onboard.

let's listen in. >> 70% of americans have consistently said that they would support five-day schedule for mail and package delivery given the financial condition of the postal service. >> and also, keep in mind, you know what the post office's biggest problem is, chris? it's not really so much due to the reduced mail flow. it's due to mounting mandatory cost for future retiree health benefits, which made up over $11 billion of the losses that we've seen in the past. so, you know, it's not just the fact that we're all going on e-mail these days. >> one reason that the postal service has lost money is because people don't send as many letters anymore. e-mail, sites like facebook. let's talk about facebook because we're just learning from a new survey this sometimes facebook users are saying i just need a break. >> yeah, absolutely. in fact, 2/3 of online american adults are facebook users, but

there's new research that has found that 61% of current facebook users say that at one time or another in the past, they've taken this break voluntarily for a period of several weeks or more. so most people say their facebook vacation was a result of just being too busy with other things. others say there's an absence of compelling content on facebook. others say excessive gossip or drama from their friends. >> no, really? >> just can't deal with it anymore. >> on facebook? are you kidding me? >> or concerns that they were maybe spending too much time on the site, needed to get out there and get a real life and they just needed to take a break. i'm one of those people who took a vacation but never went back. >> cnbc's mandy drury. thank you. >> thank you. it may not be easy to get into college, but it's even harder to pay for it. so princeton review is out with its list of the best value public colleges for students who are looking to get the best degree for their buck. okay, the university of california los angeles, number five. at four, the college of william

and mary, followed by the new college of florida. at number two, the university of north carolina at chapel hill. and the public college best value, university of virginia in charlottesville. ♪ tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty ♪ ♪ tryin' to -- [ woman ] hi there. why do we always have to take your mom's car? [ male announcer ] the security of an iihs top safety pick, the 2013 volkswagen tiguan. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease a 2013 tiguan for $219 a month. ♪

lookin' good, flo! feelin' good! feelin' real good! [ engine revs ] boat protection people love. now, that's progressive. call or click today. i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios!

mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios bright clord fruit colored vegetabled may help reduce your risk of als. people who eat more caratanoids had a reduced risk for the disease. president obama is warning congress the economy could be dealt a severe setback, if lawmakers don't take steps to avoid the sequester. that's when a series of steep automatic spending cuts go into

effect. >> the drawn out process for resolving the fiscal cliff hurt come confidence. the threat of massive automatic cuts have already started to affect business decisions. >> a recent gallup poll shows more small businesses slashed jobs over the past year, and the outlook for the year ahead isn't exactly robust. i'm joined now by host of msnbc's your business, j.j j.j. ramber. what is the small business climate? >> i asked two people that exact question and i heard grim and cautiously optimistic. so what we're seeing -- and the gallup poll shows this, too, that people are intending on hiring more people, this year. the nfib is seeing that people are hiring a few more people now than they were last year. but it's very slow. >> why? why is it not faster? >> for all kinds of reasons. number one, there's no demand. so the economy does better and people start walking through

your door, you have revenue, you're going to hire someone. no one's walking through your door, you don't need to hire someone, you don't have the money to do it. so it's the economy, just the gr greater economy. but people have cited health care costs, the cost of complying with regulation. but mostly, small business has helped as the economy has helped. >> there are some businesses doing better than others. are there particular categories that are thriving? >> if you go to silicon valley, it is an entirely different world. i mean, hiring there is up to pre-recession levels, internet boom levels. because of that, other sectors, not just tech, are doing well. because people have money. so places like construction is doing well there where it's not in other parts of the country. >> that's part of this whole immigration debate because they're hiring so many skilled workers and how do we get the skilled workers that are needed to fill the demand. >> the silicon valley is spearheading that entire debate. >> ground zero for that. which are having difficulty? >> construction, for small

businesses. so when we got the jobs report, we saw construction jobs are increasing some. but for small businesses, it's still a little bit slower. it's still hard and they're not up to pre-recession levels. not even close. >> we know it's all sort of a domino effect, so what are some of the other parts of the economy that have to do well for small business to start doing well? >> the economy as a whole has to do well. there are a couple things to chemo, which is one, people aren't starting businesses in the same ways that they were before. and so that decreases small business hiring. those start-ups are the places new jobs are occurring. and two, technology is changing. so small businesses don't need the same number of employees that they used to in the past. so those are changes -- i mean, hopefully we'll see more start-ups. the technology thing is only going to get worse, not better. >> one of the interesting things as we've been following this story of hiring and small business in particular is how much women are driving some of these start-ups and how successful they have been.

>> it's incredible. though if you look at statistics, it's still harder for women to get money, investment money, than it is for men, but it is getting better. there are a lot of really high profile smart female business entrepreneurs that are doing great things right now. >> so if we're going to be having this conversation again at the end of the year, is it very clear where we'll be in terms of small businesses? >> no, because it's not clear where we'll be in terms of the economy. there's so much uncertainty. >> and it's in d.c. a lot of it's driven by d.c. >> if you do not know what the economy is going to look like, you're not going to invest right now. >> it's good to see you. >> you, too. >> used to seeing you on thursday when you do your business report. it's good to have you on "jansing and co." and today's tweet of the day reminds us all it's one year to go until the olympics in 2014.

lou dubois tweeted it's mount rockefeller. i'll have a very special olympic flashback from my days in torino this friday. you won't want to miss it. i have a cold, and i took nyquil,

but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth!

house speaker john boehner about to hold a news conference on capitol hill right now. the house is expected to vote on something they call require a plan act. it would require the white house to provide a supplemental unified budget if the president's own budget doesn't reach balance within ten years, so continuing the budget fight on capitol hill, we're going to keep our eye on that with speaker john boehner. again, the bill would require a supplemental unified budget. he'll have a chance to explain that. when members of congress leave capitol hill, what happens to their unspent campaign war chest? well, you may not want to know. a new review of campaign nns

reports gives us a glimpse of some crazy and not very reasonable expenditures. richard lui is here with the drilldown. dare i ask where this money is going? >> got some examples for you, chris. more than 1/4 of the members that left the house this year still had some $100,000 in campaign accounts, according to "usa today." in the past, this is where some of that excess went. one member lavished it on valentine's day expenses at the ritz-carlton, says "the wall street journal." another spent it on a luxury car. while another secured a $10,000 lifetime membership at a private club. well, more recently, after losing re-election, republican alan west gave half a million to two foundations. the allen west foundation and american legacy guardians have the same post office box. west has not stated the purpose of those foundations and still has close to a million left to spend. democrat norm dicks gave $35,000

to his alma mater's athletic department. but they're not all spenders. this state senator left office with half a million dollars and it's still pretty much intact, according to commonwealth magazine. for the most part, the spending is legal, including political contributions, charities, remaining expenses, volunteer gifts and staff salaries. just no personal expenses. political contributions is the big bucket here. 27% of that money for the 110th congressional alumni. charity and taxes follow in those categories. speaker john boehner topped the list benefiting from political contributions, followed by state senator darren lahood and senator rob portman. while the dollars live on, the representatives don't need to. the late tom lantos's campaign gave out over half a million dollars since he died.

and while he may not know it, he's got $800,000 more to give away. >> wasn't it just last week that mitt romney had given a big chunk of money to help the victims of hurricane sandy? so that kind of stuff -- >> it can go on and on and on. >> yeah, that's not so bad. some of the other things -- >> i don't know about the luxury cars. i'm not sure about the clubs either. >> yeah, not sure about that. thank you so much, richard lui. that's going to wrap up this hour of "jansing and co." i'm chris jansing. thomas roberts is up next. good morning, thomas. >> good morning to you, good morning, everybody. coming up, the agenda next hour, it's a trifecta of policy problems. we're talking about immigration, curbing gun violence. so which gets done first with this new congress? isle talk about the president's strategy session that's going on today. and then you've got mail, except on saturdays. we're going to talk about this latest announcement from the postal service saying that most mail deliveries will be five days a week. they're going to save $2 billion, so that can help out

with our united states postal service. then this developing news, the boy scouts of america, they were set to take that all-important vote today about allowing gay members. now they postponed it, coming up until mail. we'll talk about the reason behind that and much more coming up at the top of the hour. s, they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. [ voice of dennis ] indeed. are you in good hands?

we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn

and then treats day after day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn.